Former SHU students not going to trial. I heard it on the CW11 news this morning, and read it on CNN. They've entered their plea and will only serve 5 years. They will be eligible for probationary hearings after a mandatory 16. The kicker: their defense lawyers are requesting that they be put in a juvenile detention center. WTF?! They're freakin' 26 years old now! I think they should go to an adult correctional facility and serve the full 5 years, if not more. It was more than just a prank. People died, several were seriously hurt, and many were traumatized. I didn't know anyone personally that died or was seriously hurt, but I empathize with those who did. Some of my old coworkers lived in that building. My sorority lil couldn't even visit me in my room because she lived on that floor, and I lived in the room right next to where the fire started.

Looking at the clip on the news about their responses, I couldn't tell whether they were really sorry about it, or if they just wanted the plea so they would have only 5 years, as opposed to a possible 30 if convicted. Their defense lawyers also chose to pass the blame primarily onto the school for not having better fire safety protocol. Okay. I can understand part of that aspect; but, they lit the banner on fire! It was their stupidity. What did they think would happen if they decided to light something that shouldn't be lit?! Grr.

They'll be sentenced in January, just days after the anniversary of the incident. Yeah. Just a bit irritated now, the more I think about it.

Got an email today with a link to a news story on Komo 4 about inflammatory breast cancer. The official site is here.